


The Virtue of Memory (Excerpt)

by IeshaFox



Category: Original Work
Genre: Tragedy, duels
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-29
Updated: 2015-08-29
Packaged: 2018-04-17 21:00:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,009
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4681295
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IeshaFox/pseuds/IeshaFox
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Rift, a large chasm in the world, split at the Equator, and the Prime Meridian, has opened to unleash hellish beasts upon the world, and a crucial battle has taken place upon this dark chasm's edge.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Virtue of Memory (Excerpt)

Iesha Fox stood, her stance  
careful and precise, as she looked  
out over the chasm which stretched for miles  
upon miles.  
Many of her allies, and hundreds  
of thousands of the enemy had fallen through  
this precipice, and Iesha could tell,  
none of them would make it out alive.  
"See what your attempts have  
come to?" came a horribly  
melodious voice from behind her.  
Iesha spun, Lance held in her  
hand.  
"You're still foolish, girl!  
Despite being the fake, you do not  
surprise me anymore. An  
attempt to be the Demon Queen  
herself?! The same one, I might  
add, that I felled with my own  
blade." Spectre Fox  
taunted.  
"I killed her, and I will not  
hesitate to kill you!" Iesha said,  
anger racing through her veins.  
She rushed the other girl, but she  
was quicker, Spectre raising a sword  
of her own, and parrying Iesha's  
attack. The attacks from both were  
parried, blocked and dodged, a  
stalemate being brought about very quickly.  
Iesha ducked to slash low, but  
Spectre was on the same page,  
blocking, then backslashing, catching  
Iesha off guard.  
Iesha landed on the ground, panting.  
The rush of battle had made her  
weary, and fast. But, she could not  
hesitate.  
She regained her footing, and  
rushed Spectre with a renewed  
vigor, a ferocity which one would not  
expect from a heroine such as herself.  
"You, will, die!" Iesha gasped  
through gritted teeth, slashing again, and  
again, at the girl.  
"On the contrary, I shall live."  
A devastating rain of blows  
ensued, knocking Iesha completely  
off balance, and bringing her to her  
knees, just before the precipice.  
Spectre raised her sword,  
and lowered it, but Iesha had rolled  
to the side. She would not give up!  
"Incompetent fool!"  
Spectre rained down blow after  
furious blow, pushing Iesha closer  
and closer to another chasm. Iesha  
fought back, ferociously slashing,  
and parrying, but it seemed that would not  
be enough to defeat her equal.  
"Why do you insist on this?!" Iesha  
cried out, as a slash came down  
on her shoulder, then along her left  
hand.  
"Because, I've been charged with  
killing you, and ever since, I've not  
given up." Spectre snapped,  
slashing yet again, but rapidly  
parrying an overhead slice.  
They seemed to be equals, both  
standing their ground, neither wishing to move,  
to even break this deadly dance of  
blade, which seemed to grow in  
rapidity.  
Neither would break their stance, both  
blocking, and parrying, doing whatever they  
could to attempt outmatching the other.  
But, it was not enough.  
Iesha finally gave way, but  
stayed on her knees.  
The dance had stopped, and was kneeling  
before her opponent gasping hard. Her  
breath came raggedly through her lungs  
as she stressed to breath properly.  
Blood coated the ground, and the  
dark Earth seemed to swallow it before  
one could think what it would do. Both  
were wounded, neither wishing these wounds  
to hinder themselves.  
Finally, Iesha stood again, and  
braced for a flurry of attacks from  
Spectre. She however, was standing,  
smirking at her.  
"You just do not know when to give up,  
do you? Your determination doesn't  
surprise me, your endurance either,  
seeing as you are a copy of me."  
"Seeing as you're copy of me,  
I'm not surprised because of your  
level of sarcasm and humor."  
Iesha said, gritting her teeth with a  
new anger.  
"Fine, if you wish it then, we  
shall see which of us is the better clone  
of whom. To the death we shall fight,  
Iesha Fox! Come at me!"  
Iesha did, Lance blazing with  
Light Energy, Iesha Fox raced  
for the girl known as Spectre Fox,  
furiously slashing, and slicing,  
using every technique she had learned  
throughout this war's duration, doing everything  
she could to drive the girl back.  
This battle wasn't based on  
wounding your opponent, it was based on  
winning. And Iesha played to do so.  
Her blade was a blur as she  
slashed, and kicked. But, Spectre  
seemed ever the better fighter.  
They struck, and stood, blade  
to blade, until with a screech of  
anguished metal, Iesha brought  
her blade down, and around, to slash  
at Spectre's sword arm. The  
blade cut through fabric, and skin,  
causing the girl to flinch, and Iesha  
stayed on her, hammering her  
backward.  
The duel continued on for what  
seemed like hours, but was a mere  
dozen minutes.  
Iesha struck, and struck again,  
occasionally causing harm to the other  
girl, but finally the two wore out  
slightly.  
Iesha had to have a fall-back  
plan! She had to! She  
frantically thought, not being able to find  
one that would involve her escaping  
alive.  
She couldn't rely on flight, that  
was for sure, the enemy would just cut her  
down, and have her fall anyway.  
Iesha felt a stab of pain  
along her back, and screamed.  
She fell back for only a  
second, but hammered with ferocious  
attacks, until Spectre  
drew away.  
That was when the pain truly hit.  
Agonizing pain seared through Iesha,  
but that only fueled her anger.  
Iesha ran forward, slamming  
her blade at Spectre's neck,  
but the girl grabbed her around the  
waist. The next thing Iesha Fox  
knew, she was falling over the cliffs  
edge.  
Iesha's hand caught on the  
edge, and she looked up into dark  
eyes, eyes the same color as  
her own.  
In that fleeting moment, Iesha  
asked herself a simple question, as much  
to herself, as to her merciless killer.  
"Who is the true clone here?"  
Then Spectre Fox's foot  
came down on her hand, and she cried  
out as she let go.  
Iesha Fox's screaming body  
began to fall, as if in slow motion,  
to the unseen chasm's floor.  
She scrabbled at the unscathed  
cliff.  
Before the rush of wind caused her  
to go unconscious, she heard the  
scream of her own voice, and the  
whistling of the wind, both ringing with  
piercing shrieks in her ears.  
Finally, she blacked out, unable  
to take it anymore. And in her  
head, she knew she had lost, just  
by falling over the edge of that chasm.

**Author's Note:**

> This is a one-shot/excerpt to check if anyone likes this.


End file.
